Ballasted reed for musical instruments



June 3, 1952 R. SEYBOLD 2,599,135

BALLASTED REED FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 7 Filed Aug. 5, 1947 IOOOIIHM ullll o o] IN VEN TOR ,I

RENE SEYBOLD By AGENT.

Patented June 3, 1952 UNITED STATES ATENT EALLASTED REED FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Rene Seybold, Strasbourg-Meinau, France Application August 5, 194:7, Serial No. 765,411 In France November 16, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires November 16, 1963 4 Claims. 1

In instances where very long reeds cannot be incorporated into the instrument on account of lack of space, ballasted reed blades are used, i. e. the reeds are ballasted at the vibrating end with a weight by means of which the center of gravity is displaced and moved toward the tongue end and, as a result of which, a tone of lower pitch is produced.

With the usual type of reed, this ballasting of the tongue end of the reed is accomplished by soldering or screwing into the reed a ballast weight sufiicient to produce the desired depth of pitch and consisting of some metal like tin or brass whose width is equal to that of the reed blade. By this method, however, the reed-point is ballasted one-sidedly so that the reed blade vibrates irregularly and the vibrating action is interfered with.

The present invention overcome these defects by applying the ballast on the outer side, as Well as on the inner side of the reed blade, thereby permitting an equitable distribution of the weight thereof.

Hitherto, the ballast on every reed blade had to be, customarily, trimmed or shaved after soldering on, i. e., it had to be reduced and conformed to the dimensions of the blade. This extra Work is not only time-consuming but it also has to be done painstakingly so that in the process neither the width nor the length of the reed becomes altered. In addition, the soldering-on of ballast weights on reeds, frequently subjects them to rust and other forms of oxidation.

In order to avoid these drawbacks, the present invention provides for ballast weight of dimensions narrower than the reed blade and which in addition do not extend to the very tip of the reed blade. In this manner all subsequent trimming is made superfluous and the risks of alter- .ingthe lateral edges of the reed blade are avoided. In' further consequence thereof, the wind can engage the reed blade down to the extreme tongue end of the same without any interference by the ballast. The point of attack (i. e. the play between the reed and the slot edges of the reedblock) as Well as the constant deflection of the reed blade are thus reduced to a minimum. The vibration remains constant, even with increased air pressure, and the resultant tone does not sound forced because the pendulum motion of the'reed blade about the point of rest, or about the cutting edges of the reed block slots, respectively, is no longer interfered with by onesided ballasting.

In the accompanyin drawings an exemplary presentation of the invention is represented; thus,

Fig. 1 shows a perpendicular view on a feed block with reed blade riveted thereon which latter is provided with three ballast weights,

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal cut through the reed blade with perforated tongue end,

Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal out through the reed blade with three ballast weights afiixed, and

Fig. 4 shows the two component parts of a ballast rivet.

The reed block is designated by the number i, the holes in the tongue end of the reed by 3, 3, 3", respectively, the bolt and the ring of the ballast rivet by 4 and 5, respectively. The diameters of the holes in reed 2 and in the ballast rings 5 correspond to the diameters of the shaft of the rivet bolt d. The head of the rivet bolt 5 and the rivet ring 5 have equal diameters and equal height. The reed blade lies between rivet head and rivet ring. For purposes of riveting together the two parts, the rivet shaft protrudes slightly above the superimposed ballast ring. Diameter, height and number of the ballast rivets depend on the desired depth of pitch.

I claim:

1. A vibrating blade, for use with a reed block of a musical instrument, the said blade having perforations therethrough equally spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of the said reed and ballast weights disposed on both sides of the said reed, and means for connecting each pair of the said oppositely disposed ballast weights projecting through the said perforations of the reed.

2. A vibrating blade, for use with a reed block of a musical instrument, having perforations therethrough, and bipartite rivets whose bolts are received by the said perforations and riveted with a ring, the weight of said rivet being so adjusted that the two parts are of equal moment on either side of said reed.

3. A reed blade as claimed in claim 2 characterized by the fact that the diameter of said ballast weight is less than the width of the fiat surface area of said reed blade and that the head of said ballast weights is equal in weight to that of said rivet ring.

4. A reed blade as claimed in claim 3 wherein the frontal end of said reed blade projects over the outermost of the said ballast weights.

RENE SEYBOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 201,267 Merrin Mar. 12, 1878 572,286 Astenius Dec. 1, 1886 1,059,365 Hope-Jones Apr. 22, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,071 Great Britain May 16, 1876 333,120 France June 16, 1903 

